Saturday, March 11, 2017

Chatham Cares 4U Initiative

A Successful Program Treating Opiate Addiction In and Around Columbia County

Saturday, March 25, from 3 pm to
5 pm, at the Hudson Library Community Room

51 N. 5th Street, Hudson, NY

Chatham Police Chief Peter Volkmann has
partnered with a national movement, Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery
Initiative (PAARI), to develop Chatham Cares 4U, the first program of its kind
in Columbia County.

The Chatham Cares 4U Initiative believes
opiate addiction is a disease, not a crime, and is modeled after a similar
program Angel Initiative in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Initiated in July 2016, Chatham Cares 4U has
helped over 80 participants seeking help to find treatment. The program
averages about 10 participants a month who have come from Columbia County and
surrounding counties. No one has been turned away.

Chatham Police Officers and local community
volunteers who believe in the mission are an integral part of the program. They
work with treatment centers and insurance companies to get people into
treatment.

Any person seeking treatment help who comes
to the Chatham Police station in the Village Hall at 77 Main Street, will be
screened into the program. They can turn over their drugs or drug paraphernalia
, which will be marked for destruction, no questions asked. They will not be
charged with a crime.

Police Chief Volkmann has said "the
stigma associated with heroin and opiate addiction is over. Police officers are
here to help you, not judge you." "You can help save a life."

This free program, open to all, is sponsored
by the Columbia County Democratic Committee.